


The Ghost in the Attic

by as_with_a_sunbeam



Category: 19th Century CE RPF, Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:48:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27311404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/as_with_a_sunbeam/pseuds/as_with_a_sunbeam
Summary: One gray and stormy day, Eliza finds a ghost in the attic.He's a surprisingly good kisser.__Short and sweet Hamilton Family fluff for Halloween
Relationships: Alexander Hamilton/Elizabeth "Eliza" Schuyler
Comments: 20
Kudos: 76





	The Ghost in the Attic

“Well, aren’t you all a lively bunch?” Eliza teased, standing in the entry to the parlor with a tea tray.

Rain drummed against the windows of the parlor where most of her boys had congregated. Jamie was lying on the floor with Billy, a game of marbles between them. From the way Jamie had his head on his elbow, though, she wasn’t entirely certain he was still awake. Alex was sprawled across the sofa, staring at the window, while Johnny was spread out on the floor with a massive tome from his father’s library. And Hamilton sat in the armchair nearest the fireplace, snoring lightly, his head resting against his shoulder and a book resting against his chest.

“I hate rain,” Billy grumbled, the only response to her remark. He flicked a marble aimlessly towards his brother, making Jamie start and wipe at the corner of his mouth.

Eliza shook her head fondly at her son as she placed the tea tray on the side table near her husband. “Sweetheart?”

A snore caught in the back of his throat, coming out as a snort that made her smile. He blinked up at her, sleep drunk and adorable.

“Hard at work?”

He wrinkled his nose and rubbed a hand over his eyes. “What time is it?”

“Just four,” she said. The gloomy gray light outside made it feel later than it was.

“All this rain,” he complained. “It’s giving me a headache. I must have drifted off.”

“Do you want a powder?” she offered.

“No.” He squeezed his eyes closed before arching his back in the chair, stretching. Glancing around, he, too, noticed the listless quality in their children. “My, my, everybody looks about ready for a nap.” 

“Not much excitement to be found on a day like this,” she agreed.

“Mm,” he hummed. Then he froze, head cocking to the side. “Did you hear that?”

She frowned, listening. “What?”

He pointed towards the ceiling. “That. You don’t hear it?”

“Hear what?”

“It’s like a thumping.”

“It’s probably the rain,” she suggested, looking up as she continued to listen.

Hamilton shook his head. “I think it’s coming from upstairs.”

“No one’s upstairs,” she said.

“I hear it, too,” Johnny said. He pushed his glasses up his nose as he sat up from the book he had open on floor near the sofa. “Like someone’s tapping.”

“Maybe it’s a ghost,” Hamilton teased.

Alex jumped in on the joke, emitting a spooky moan and wiggling his fingers in his younger brother’s direction.

Johnny shot an elbow out towards his elder brother’s legs. “Shut up.”

“John,” Eliza cautioned.

“A ghost?” Billy sat up fully, intrigued.

“There’s no ghost,” Eliza assured him, though he didn’t appear in the least frightened.

“I’m going to go check upstairs,” Hamilton said, rising from his seat and setting his book aside.

She sighed. “Your tea is going to get cold.”

“I’ll be right back,” he said. He pressed a soft kiss to her lips before winking. “Just want to be sure we’re secure from otherworldly visitors.”

She rolled her eyes as he disappeared into the foyer.

Stealing his spot, she slid into the armchair and waited. The decorative clock on the mantle ticked steadily. One minute. Two. Five minutes. She frowned, listening, waiting to hear his footsteps coming back down the stairs.

“Should I go check on Papa?” Alex suggested after eight minutes.

“Yes, please,” she said. “Wrest him away from his ghost hunt.”

Alex laughed and followed his father’s course from the parlor. Another minute ticked by; then two, then five. She sighed.

“Did the ghost get them?” Billy asked when she stood from the armchair.

“There’s no ghost,” she repeated.

She mounted the stairs to go after her wayward boys. Halfway up, she heard footsteps behind her, and turned to see Billy, Jamie, and Johnny following. “What are you doing?”

“I want to see the ghost,” Billy whined.

She shook her head and continued upstairs.

On the second floor, she could hear a faint, distant thumping. Perhaps one of the shudders had come loose, she thought, and Hamilton and Alex were having difficulty fixing it back in place. “Hamilton?”

He didn’t answer.

She followed the thumping sound down the hallway. The attic door was ajar, flickering light pooling on the steps below. What would they be doing up in the storage attic?

“Alexander?” she called again. “Where are you?” 

The faint thumping increased to an audible banging.

She started up the narrow staircase, holding her hand out to stop the boys from following.

“But Mama—”

“Just wait here a moment,” she insisted.

The attic door creaked on it’s hinges as she pulled it open. A candle sat abandoned on a trunk by the door, but she couldn’t see anyone in the shadowy, cramped space. The banging seemed to be originating from somewhere towards the back of the room, behind several crates and boxes.

A rattling bang, far louder than any of the others, made her jump. Then an unsettling quiet followed. Only the creaking of her footsteps inching along the disused floorboards was audible. 

She breathed in through her nose, trying to settle her suddenly racing heart. "Honey?" 

Another low moan sounded in the quiet.

“Honey? Is that you? Are you hurt?”

She grabbed the candle and held it out before her, moving carefully through their assorted possessions as she made her way deeper into the attic. Something shifted in the corner, a shadow slipping away from the flickering light. She swallowed.

“Mama?”

She started again, looking back to see Billy poking his head in the door.

“Shh,” she hushed. “Stay there.”

The moan sounded again from the shadowy corner.

“Sweetheart?”

With no warning, a white, billowing creature surged forth from the corner. The candle flickered out in the gust of air that followed, plunging the attic into darkness. She screamed as she went down to the floor, a hard weight pressing against her.

When the pure, blind panic began to recede, she recognized…laughing.

The figure atop her shifted, and she felt lips press against her cheek.

“Got you,” Hamilton whispered in her ear.

Another candle flickered to life in the opposite corner of the room, held by her elder son, who was grinning from ear to ear. Hamilton was still untangling himself from a shroud of white linen. He looked exceedingly smug.

“You almost gave me a heart attack,” she charged, swatting at him. “I thought you were hurt.”

“Papa scared you, Mama,” Billy cackled from the doorway, doubled over with giggles. The other boys were both laughing behind him.

Hamilton grinned over at them, then shrugged, pleading, “We needed some entertainment.”

She looked closer at the linen he’d wrapped around himself to give the appearance of a ghostly figure. “Is that one of our good sheets?”

His eyes widened comically, and he tossed the sheet down on the dusty floor before shouting, “Run!”

The boys all surged towards the door gleefully, Hamilton a step behind, but she managed to grab him by the waistcoat to halt his progress.

“Papa!” Billy called, hovering in the doorway.

“Go! It’s too late for me, save yourself!”

Billy sprinted after his brothers down the narrow stairs, their footsteps loud as a stampede through the previously quiet house. Peals of laughter echoed from the second floor. The listless quiet and boredom of minutes earlier had entirely disappeared. Hamilton was chuckling as he turned around to face her.

“You’re not angry, are you?” he asked, face soft. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“Yes, you did,” she contradicted, though she couldn’t stop the smile pulling at the corners of her lips.

“Yes, I did,” he agreed, his arms coming around to embrace her. “I’ll make it up to you, though.”

“And how will you do that?” she asked, raising her brow in a challenge.

“Well,” he said as he tipped his face down towards hers, “I thought I’d start with this.”

His lips captured hers in a slow, passionate kiss. She moaned in pleasure, her arms coming around him in turn. He pulled back at the sound, his head cocking to the side again.

“What?”

“Did you hear that?” His face was split in a grin. “Someone was moaning. Maybe it was a ghost?”

She pulled him back towards her. “Shut up and kiss me.”

He laughed and obeyed.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short, fluffy piece for Halloween! Hamilton did have a penchant for practical jokes (one famously involving a ghost), so I could see definitely him doing something like this to entertain his family on a rainy day. Hope you enjoyed! Feedback always appreciated!!


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